The Great American Soil Project

It's the time of year when I start to regret not doing some things, and I feel the pressure to squeeze in as many fun and meaningful learning activities as possible. With less than 40 days of school left, I am in full fun-and-meaningful-activity mode. Those year-end assessments are days away.They can wait. Right? We still have time for as many hands-on, exciting learning activities as I can squeeze into our remaining days!

We're just beginning our study of soils, rocks, and renewable and non-renewable resources. First up: Soils! The children brought a sample of soil from their yard, and we've been examining the soil's properties. We'll soon be making a Mud Ball Museum, which is always messy fun. The children don't know this, but earthworms will be arriving this week. We're making compost bags. They are going to burst with excitement when I unveil the earthworms. (My class loves critters!)

The exciting part of this study is that we're starting The Great American Soil Project. We'll be writing letters to friends and family members to request a soil sample from their area. We'll be mailing friendly letters to these friends and family members who live across America. The excitement level is going to skyrocket when the children's soil packages begin arriving. I've been doing this project with my classes for ten years, and I get just as excited as they do!

We just finished a fun measurement project. The children partnered up and traced one another on butcher paper. Then, we measured legs, arms, and all sorts of combinations to use addition and subtraction with 100 to measure lengths. Several district math coaches visited our school to observe math lessons in our school. The children worked with a partner to solve story problems related to this standard, and the they were terrific in giving academic feedback, using varying strategies to solve the problem and explaining their thinking. 

I think this one has an Egyptian flair!

Such a dapper kid with his necktie!

I will leave you with a joke that was from a book that one of my students shared this week. He wrote an entire book of jokes. 

Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Tank.
Tank who?
You're welcome!

Cracks me up every time!


How is your week going?